71%

Parents saving

Share of Canadian parents and guardians of children under 18 who were saving for postsecondary education in 2025.

Statistics Canada SAEP 2025

What the stats say

  • RESPs are large enough to matter nationally: assets reached $89.8 billion at the end of 2024.
  • The basic grant is widely used, but the CESG take-up rate still sat at 53.4% among eligible children aged 0 to 17.
  • The Canada Learning Bond has a larger access gap: cumulative take-up was 43.4%, and new take-up was 18.9% in the 2023-2024 benefit year.
  • RESP withdrawals are already a major postsecondary funding stream, with $6.7 billion withdrawn by 583,079 beneficiaries in 2024.
  • The biggest planning divide is not just awareness. Statistics Canada data shows household income and day-to-day expenses strongly shape whether families can save.

Statistics

RESP program scale

These numbers show that RESPs are a large national savings channel, not a niche product.

Statistics

Government benefits

CESG and CLB data show both strong usage and a remaining access gap, especially for families eligible for the Canada Learning Bond.

Statistics

Withdrawals for school

Withdrawal data matters because it shows how RESP money actually reaches students once postsecondary education begins.

Statistics

Family saving behaviour

Statistics Canada's 2025 survey adds household context: who is saving, how they save, and why some families delay.

Children with savings 89%

Savers using RESPs

Among children under 18 with postsecondary education savings, about 89% had an RESP in 2025.

Statistics Canada SAEP 2025
Lowest vs highest quintile 52% vs 91%

Income gap

Children in the lowest-income families were much less likely to have education savings than children in the highest-income families.

Statistics Canada SAEP 2025
Non-savers 54%

Day-to-day costs

Most common reason parents who were not saving gave for not saving: available funds go to day-to-day expenses.

Statistics Canada SAEP 2025

How to read these numbers

Program dollar amounts, contribution totals, and withdrawals come from the federal Canada Education Savings Program review. Parent behaviour, income differences, and barriers to saving come from Statistics Canada's 2025 survey. The two sources answer different questions, so this page keeps the source and data year beside each statistic.

See all RESP sources